I have come to the end. The end of an era. I have finished and accomplished what I have set out to do. In a couple of days, I will be walking across the stage and saying goodbye to Canisius College and starting a new chapter in my life. But I could not finish without coming on here one last time and leaving my mark on this blog.

The COM Department has done so much for me, without me even asking. Everything just fell into place being within that community and I could not have asked to be in a better program. The biggest thank you goes out to the internship seminar and Dr. Irwin for helping find an internship where I would be happy and comfortable learning.

These last weeks have been difficult as a senior. I am not like most of you going on to graduate school. I think I will stop here for now because I learned a lot from being here for four years and my semester interning at The SPCA Serving Erie County. I learned a lot about working in a more professional setting. It was not like working at PetSmart or showing up for class every day; it was quite different. I had to conduct myself differently and it was just a new experience to learn from.

This internship kept me steady. It was a break from my usual busy routine, and I enjoyed every bit of it. It was very freeing to be able to create for this lovely nonprofit organization. I could not have asked for a better opportunity.

I am proud to say I got to accomplish my goals for this internship. Creating anything from scratch with complete freedom is difficult. There are many things that I wished I had done differently or wished I had learned about sooner. I would have been able to accomplish more. But I got a start for what I wanted. I now know what to do in the future and how I would like to conduct myself in the future.

Interning at the SPCA benefited my future because I know what kind of environment I would thrive within. The chaotic calm environment suits my needs – not too much excitement all the time but just the right amount when necessary. You can never have too much excitement in your life and why not get it from what you love to do.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me and all of you. We will not hear about it here but in 10 years’ time I am quite sure I will see one of you on television and remember what it was like to see the back of your head listening to lectures and seeing how we all benefit from Canisius College and the Communication Department.